It looks as if somebody’s ox is being gored a bit here. They’re concerned about the modulars drawing funds away from development of “renewables” that aren’t ready to pull their weight yet, and about how slow those reactors are to field in the face of environmental obstacles they themselves are helping to throw up.
The cost of the SMR will drop once in production. Nuclear is the only technology with a chance of meeting carbon reduction targets, assuming one is worried about that.
Bingo. We need a space race national priority on SMR development.